GREEN BAY, Wis. — Patriots training camp needed a shot in the arm. The first two-plus weeks of practices in New England were fine, but they were light on intensity and actual entertainment.
Thankfully, Wednesday brought the goods.
The Patriots and Packers provided energy and playmaking for nearly three hours in the first of their two joint practices in the shadow of Lambeau Field. There was little in the way of live contact, but this was the closest thing to real football that we’ve seen since the Patriots started training camp.
And, yes, Ezekiel Elliott debuted after finalizing his one-year contract with New England. He didn’t do much — you can click here for a more in-depth breakdown — but he was on the field.
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Overall, it was a positive day for the Patriots. Their offense and defense both started fast, but some issues cropped up late. You could argue they were the better team on Day 1, but it was close.
One note: The setup in Green Bay made it difficult to watch everything that was going on. The teams worked on one giant field that basically was split into two, with, for example, the Patriots offense facing the Packers defense on one field, and the reverse happening on the other. You really had to pick one, and we prioritized watching New England’s offense. That said, the second half of practice saw the teams alternating on the same field, so we got a longer look at the Patriots defense. Plus other reporters in attendance helped fill in the gaps.
With that in mind, here’s everything that stood out during the first Patriots-Packers joint practice:
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WEATHER
Hot (80-plus degrees) with blustery winds. The kind of day in which you’d be tricked into thinking you weren’t getting a diesel sunburn.
ATTIRE
Full pads.
ATTENDANCE
The Patriots were without eleven players, including five — Cole Strange, Ty Montgomery, Calvin Anderson, Mike Onwenu and Cody Davis — who either have missed all of camp or close to it. Tight end Mike Gesicki also was absent after suffering a concerning shoulder injury on Monday.
Additionally, cornerback Jonathan Jones missed yet another practice and now has been out of action since Aug. 3. Not good.
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On the positive side, guard Bill Murray returned after a string of recent absences but was wearing a red non-contact jersey. Linebacker Anfernee Jennings also practiced after experiencing an injury scare earlier in the week.
INJURY REPORT
We only noticed three.
Defensive tackle Christian Barmore had his right ankle worked on after an 11-on-11 period but eventually returned to practice. He seemed fine. The same goes for offensive guard Chasen Hines, who saw attention from trainers early in practice but didn’t exit.
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One potential cause for concern is offensive tackle Conor McDermott, who left practice late and didn’t return. No word yet on whether he’s dealing with anything serious, but the Patriots can ill-afford to deal with any further offensive line injuries.
QB REPORT
Mac Jones: 18-of-26, one TD, three sacks, two dropped interceptions
Bailey Zappe: 16-of-22, zero TDs, five sacks, zero interceptions
Malik Cunningham: 0-0 (four QB reps — two handoffs, two keepers)
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ASSORTED OBSERVATIONS
— The top offense was strong to start but struggled late. Jones went 11-of-15 during the first period of 11-on-11s, including a touchdown throw to a leaping DeVante Parker. Officials ruled the ball incomplete, but Parker and his teammates were convinced otherwise. We gave it to him. Rhamondre Stevenson saw a ton of work during this period and was effective.
But things changed in the final 45 minutes. One period saw the top offense commit two O-line penalties and one offensive pass interference, which was called on Kendrick Bourne. There also were some miscommunications between Jones and his receivers, and JuJu Smith-Schuster committed a bad drop.
It was unfortunate because the Patriots offense was tracking toward a statement performance.
“I definitely think we need to just be more consistent,” Jones said after practice. “I know we had a couple situations, just penalties and things like that, we’ve got to get fixed. We’re trying to use the tools that we have: cadence, motions and things like that. We’re just trying to use it to our advantage. When you don’t, it turns into a disadvantage. So, we definitely want to clean that up.”
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— Jones threw a bad near-interception, intended for Hunter Henry, that had Packers cornerback Rasul Douglas doing punishment pushups afterward. It happened a few plays after Jones delivered a 15-yard sideline dime to Henry, who couldn’t keep his feet in bounds.
— Cunningham’s usage stayed in line with what we saw in the last two practices. The undrafted product, who also saw time at receiver, replaced either Jones or Zappe for one play at a time, with all four of his QB reps resulting in handoffs or keepers.
— Trace McSorley clearly is being phased out. He saw zero reps on Wednesday.
— Parker was New England’s best receiver all day. He finished with five receptions, his most in any practice this summer, and was Jones’ most trusted target.
— Elliott participated in individual drills, a walkthrough and strength/conditioning, all of which took place early in practice. He saw zero competitive reps.
— Another solid day for rookie sensation Demario Douglas. He wasn’t a standout but caught five passes (all from Zappe) and saw more work with Jones.
— There weren’t any 1-on-1 drills in this practice, meaning we likely will get a heavy dosage Thursday. It would be a great test for rookies such as Douglas, Keion White, Christian Gonzalez and Marte Mapu.
— Speaking of Mapu, he played without the red non-contact jersey for the first time this summer. We didn’t notice him much during the defensive periods we saw, but that doesn’t mean he played poorly.
— The offensive line’s issues continued. It wasn’t a total disaster, but there was a lot of pressure and plenty of plays that probably would’ve resulted in sacks in real games.
The top line, from left to right: Trent Brown, Atonio Mafi, David Andrews, Riley Reiff, Sidy Sow.
— Rookie Kayshon Boutte caught four passes during the opening 11-on-11 period in a nice bounce-back performance. He didn’t do much the rest of practice, though.
— Andrews was ticked off after a false start by Mafi, who ran a lap.
— Reporters who watched the Patriots defense early said Matthew Judon and Josh Uche were causing a ton of problems for the Packers.
— Gonzalez had a tough day. He was in coverage when Jordan Love hit Christian Watson for a 50-yard gain — cornerbacks coach Mike Pellegrino wasn’t happy at all — and gave up a 20-yard pass to Romeo Doubs during a two-minute drill. He appeared to be in zone coverage a lot, so we don’t want to rip him, but it wasn’t great.
— Up-and-down-day for Jack Jones. The embattled corner had one great pass breakup and made a few other good plays, but also allowed a 40-yard completion to Malik Heath at the goal line.
— Marcus Jones allowed three catches in one two-minute drill. His so-so summer continues.
— Both rookie specialists struggled. Kicker Chad Ryland went 4-for-6 (Nick Folk went 4-for-5) and punter Bryce Baringer barely could register hangtimes of 40 seconds. Maybe it was the wind, maybe it was typical growing pains. Probably both.
— Rookie defensive end Keion White pulled off a ridiculous spin move that stunned more than a few reporters who saw it.
— Anthony Firkser saw increased work at tight end with Gesicki out. Matt Sokol seems to be first in line for Gesicki’s tight end reps.
— Jalen Mills was involved in a minor dustup with Packers receiver Dontayvion Wicks during a punt drill. No punches were thrown.
— Finally, we must mention a confusing and intense moment that happened late in practice.
The Patriots ended a decent two-minute drill with a Ryland field goal, but Bill Belichick called the offense back out for a redo of the final sequence. With 13 seconds left around the 33-yard line, Jones threw incomplete toward the sideline for Kendrick Bourne, who slipped at the top of his route. Belichick then chewed Jones out — big time. The next play saw Jones intentionally throw the ball to the ground before the field goal unit came back out.
It was hard to tell what was going on. Belichick might’ve just wanted the Patriots to simulate more clock-running plays in a specific situation, or he might’ve been replicating a scenario in which the Packers committed a penalty and gave the Patriots a first down with little time left and no timeouts. Enough time for a shot at the end zone, or a quick play to pick up a few yards and make the field goal easier.
Either way, the two plays the Patriots ran weren’t competitive, and Belichick wasn’t happy. He also might’ve thought a completion to Bourne would’ve resulted in the clock running out; so, Jones shouldn’t have thrown it.
Jones attempted to explain after practice.
“Yeah, we scored on the two-minute drive with a field goal, and then we just wanted to try a situation again,” he said. “We just kind of re-did the situation, I guess. That was fun, I guess, but it was my fault. I think it was just a miscommunication between all of us. It was fine. It was a good learning experience. It’s too hard to explain in football terms to the media and stuff, but it was kind of a nuance, because we kind of repeated a situation we just did, you know what I’m saying? That’s what we need though, so both teams can get the situation, try and practice it and then do it again to get it right.”
THREE UP
WR DeVante Parker
LB Matthew Judon
RB Rhamondre Stevenson
THREE DOWN
OG Atonio Mafi
CB Christian Gonzalez
K Chad Ryland
UP NEXT
The Patriots and Packers will practice again Thursday before taking Friday off. They’ll meet Saturday night for a preseason matchup at Lambeau Field.
Featured image via Sarah Kloepping/USA TODAY Sports Images
